Product liability in Switzerland

Anyone who places a product on the market in Switzerland is liable for the damage that product causes if it is defective. This is a strict liability, governed by the Product Liability Act (PLA) and aligned with the corresponding European directive. “Strict” means there is no need to prove fault on the manufacturer’s part: the defect, the damage and the causal link are enough. For a business that produces, imports or distributes goods, this is a concrete risk that must be understood and managed before it materialises.

Who is considered a “producer”

The law extends the notion of producer well beyond the final manufacturer. Jointly and severally liable are:

the manufacturer of the finished product or of one of its parts, and the producer of the raw material;
anyone who presents themselves as producer by affixing their own name or trademark to the product;
the importer who brings the product onto the Swiss market in the course of their business;
on a subsidiary basis, the supplier, when the producer or importer cannot be identified and is not named within a reasonable time.

This chain matters: a distributor who affixes their own trademark to third-party goods becomes, for all purposes, liable as a producer.

When a product is “defective”

A product is defective when it does not offer the safety that can legitimately be expected, taking account of all the circumstances: the presentation of the product, the use to which it is reasonably intended and the time it was placed on the market. This is not about quality or fitness for use (those fall under the contractual warranty), but about safety. A newer, safer product does not automatically make an earlier one defective: the yardstick is the legitimate expectation of safety at the time it was put on the market.

Which damage is compensable

The PLA covers:

damage arising from death or personal injury;
damage to property other than the defective product itself, provided the item is normally intended for private use or consumption and was used by the injured party mainly for private purposes. For such material damage there is a deductible (a threshold of CHF 900), below which the damage is not compensated under this act.

Damage to the defective product itself does not fall under the PLA: it is recovered, if at all, through contract, via the warranty. Purely economic loss follows other rules.

The grounds for exclusion

The producer is not liable if they prove, among other things, that:

they had not placed the product on the market;
the defect did not exist at the time the product was put on the market;
the product was not manufactured for sale or for another form of distribution for economic purposes;
the defect is due to compliance with mandatory rules issued by the public authorities;
the state of scientific and technical knowledge at the time it was put on the market did not allow the defect to be discovered (the so-called development risk).

These are defences that the producer must prove: the burden lies with them, not with the injured party.

The time limits: limitation and forfeiture

Two clocks run in parallel. The claim becomes time-barred after three years from the day the injured party became aware, or should have become aware, of the damage, the defect and the identity of the producer. There is also a forfeiture period of ten years from the placing of the specific product on the market: once that period has elapsed, the right is extinguished in any event. Businesses must take this into account when retaining technical and traceability documentation.

How businesses reduce the risk

Product liability cannot be excluded by contract towards the injured parties, but it can be governed:

technical documentation, quality controls and batch traceability;
clear instructions for use and warnings, which affect the “legitimately expected safety”;
recall procedures and complaint management;
product liability insurance appropriate to the market and volumes;
contractual regulation of recourse along the supply chain.

How we work at SIH ONE

We help manufacturers, importers and distributors map their exposure along the chain, set up warnings, documentation and recourse clauses, and coordinate insurance cover. The goal is to turn a latent risk into a measured and monitored one.

Do you want to understand what your business is really liable for and how to protect yourself? Discover the services of our tax-legal division and structure your product protection.